Assignment # 5

Selection of New Materials

Possible Letter to PAC

Dear Pac Members,

Thank you for supporting Sidney School's Library collection. Your generous donation of $2000.00 will be carefully spent on learning resources for the Grade Two Science Curriculum, Animal Growth and Change. After extensive weeding in this section, a careful collection analysis, and by having conversations with the Grade Two teachers, I have come up with the order lists that follow. I feel $2000 adequately covers the needs in this area.

There are a variety of formats included and both leisure reading and academics have been considered. I have used professional reviewing sources such as School Library Journal and Booklist to guide my decisions. As well, I have used our local children's bookstore expert and the teachers to provide input. As much as possible, I have tried to personally look through many of the resources for consideration. Both the students and the teachers needs have been considered.

Canadian animals, eagles, bats and penguins have been heavily featured because those are the themes the Grade Two teachers most frequently teach. I realize that some of these may not be mammals but it is through these topics that they are teaching their animal growth and change unit in science. I have included some spiders and insects because the students are particularly interested in these creatures. First Nations resources have been included. Sea life has also been emphasized because of the sea aquarium coming to our school in February 2012.

Sincerely,

Shannon Curtis
Teacher Librarian

Other Considerations

I used our local bookstore, all the catalogues I had (which were many), boxes of books from jobbers, and on-line resources. I found Amazon particularly useful to get the 'missing pieces' that some catalogues did not include. After much time-consuming research on the UBC library website, I also found Amazon had reviews in a much more user-friendly manner. However, it was nice to read the full reviews on School Library Journal. This task was extremely time-consuming but I really do know what I want to order now. I feel I have a better understanding of what is out there.

I feel I am still 'book heavy' on my purchasing but our school has limited student computers so generally we are still using books for our research and teaching. I purchased hardcover whenever it was available. I feel I got a nice variety of levels to accomodate the different reading skills of the students.

Note: On each spreadsheet (there are six) I have prioritized one or two items for actual purchase in our school library! I did this task with input from my teachers and so it will be useful for me in ordering over the next couple of years. This exercise was completely real for me.

Reviews Using School Library Journal.xlsx

These are the review links for the first table of books:

Tanner's Book Store.xlsx

Picture Books.xlsx
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DVD's of Picture Books

We have a collection of Set BC CD's that correspond with picture books on our shelves. This list is the start of our audiovisual collection of picture books.They are especially helpful for ESL and struggling readers. They are expensive but well worth the cost. The date on this list is not the date the book was published but when the audiovisual work was made.

DVD's, Posters.xlsx

Non-Fiction.xlsx

Non-Fiction Series.xlsx

Final Total:

The total of my selection of resources is: $1746.58. It will be approximately $88.00 in taxes (5%) and that leaves approximately $167.00 in shipping and handling costs.

Please note that I have purchased many fabulous titles this fall including Friends: True Stories of Extraordinary Animal Friendships by Catherine Thimmish and The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney.

Assignment 5